Robotics program takes off at Clara H. Carlson

Clara H. Carlson School students in grades 3-6 are enjoying a new enrichment opportunity thanks to the school’s new robotics teams.

The fifth- and sixth-grade team began meeting in October and is preparing to participate in a First Lego League competition at Mineola High School on Jan. 26. The team is working diligently to ready their robot to complete multiple missions in the Into Orbit Challenge at the event. Not only have they been building their EV3 robot, they are using block coding to program it and researching solutions to the problem, “What can we do to help long-duration space exploration?”

Teachers Deborah Buchanan and Robert Cavaliere are the advisers of the fifth- and sixth-grade team and said it has been a wonderful opportunity for students.

“The students build the robot, they follow directions to synthesize it and are in charge of their own discovery in terms of how the pieces work together,” Mrs. Buchanan said.

Meanwhile, the third- and fourth-grade robotics team is also working hard. Librarian Laura McDermott and technology assistant Parveen Rampal are overseeing students as they explore the question, “What is needed to live on the moon?” In addition, they are building a robot and coding using WeDo 2.0 software. The team will create a presentation board to participate in a First Lego League Jr. competition at Mineola High School on March 2.

Photo Captions:

Clara H. Carlson School sixth-graders Anisah Tariq and Kevin Dopwell researched possible T-Shirt designs for their team to wear to their upcoming competition.

2. Clara H. Carlson School robotics team members researched problems and solutions to long-duration space exploration during a recent meeting.

3. Clara H. Carlson School students (from left): Jeremy Quezada, Japheth Omezi and Jadon Lawson used coding to program their team’s robot.

4. Clara H. Carlson School students (from left): Japheth Omezi, Jadon Lawson and Kevin Dopwell showed off the cool table the school’s custodians built for them.